O2 5G Anniversary: The Wider Benefits of 5G Technology

[lewys-gp]

Tin foils hats at the ready... 😅

It's two years to the day since 5G became available on the O2 network. And I thought it would be interesting to talk a little bit about the benefits of 5G! Not how it can maybe help us load a webpage faster or download a film for us as consumers, but the wider aspects and impact it's having on society.

I guess this is a topic for the technophiles and not the technophobes 😆.

As mentioned above, it's faster! Specifically, peak 5G speeds are expected to be 100x faster than 4G. This will improve the experience for consumers, but also businesses. We may be able to replace broadband connections with 5G networks, and increase the speed of how we transfer important and vital data between one another.

For example, the transportation industry is currently making a big push to achieving autonomous driving 🚘. With all the technology in a car, a fast and reliable network will be required. That is 5G. 

As well as fast, it is and will be ultra-reliable through its low latency communications. How will this impact more than just consumers? Well, in the healthcare industry, we are relying more and more on AI & robots to carry out tasks 🏥. 5G makes it safer to use robots in surgeries, for example, and allows healthcare professionals to act with precision. 

In the world of manufacturing, we're going to see massive machine-type communications too. As we enter digital revolution, our technologies are being upgraded and physical assets are getting digital twins too. What does this mean? Performance, maintenance and insights can all be seen remotely, without even having to look at the machines, by engineers 👨‍🏭.

We're going to see more efficient energy storage systems as we continue to build renewable energy ⚡. Faster transactions in the finance industry. And so much more. 

It's important we keep innovating and advancing. Improving the ways we work, live and play 😄.

[Cleoriff]

@lewys-gp 

As a retired healthcare professional (worked in the NHS for 47 years) I read with interest this section in your article "Well, in the healthcare industry, we are relying more and more on AI & robots to carry out tasks

. 5G makes it safer to use robots in surgeries, for example, and allows healthcare professionals to act with precision. 

Excellent news indeed. I have rarely seen robots performing surgery. I have seen robotic equipment handled by innovative consultant surgeons and personally that's how I would want it to remain. Robots are fine for simple tasks but there is never a replacement for trained specialists who know what to do when certain procedures take a turn for the unexpected and know exactly what to do when that happens.

No robot could ever be programmed to deal with those procedures.

Example: A patient goes to surgery for xxxx. Open patient up and it's quickly evident that xxxx won't work so we need to turn to yyyy. During yyyy, the unexpected occurs and we need to call in another specialist to perform zzzz. Once zzzz is completed and 6 hrs later consultant (A) changes major procedure to axax in order to accommodate the requirements of the patient on the operating table.

We have yet to reach that level of knowledge and competence in any robot. (whether they are working with 5G or not. )